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Framed by the author's personal experience with backyard hens, Chickens: Their Natural and Unnatural Histories explores the history of the chicken from its descent from the dinosaurs to the space-age …

Framed by the author's personal experience with backyard hens, Chickens: Their Natural and Unnatural Histories explores the history of the chicken from its descent from the dinosaurs to the space-age present. En route, author Janet Lembke surveys chickens in ancient Greece, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the 19th century, and modern times, including the role of chickens in Jewish and Muslim practices. She also investigates the birds' contributions to science and their jaunty appearances in literature. Eggs receive a chapter of their own, as does chicken cuisine, comprising recipes from the Roman Empire to today's favorites. Stories about chickens appear, too, often written by those who keep them, including the painter Grandma Moses, the man who holds Cleveland's Farm Animal Permit No. 17, and Brenda, who had to give her young roosters a talking-to for behaving like sheep.

Chickens have only recently come to a sorry pass in the Western world, where broilers and laying hens are factory-farmed. Lembke investigates the fate of such birds and explores the sustainable, humane alternatives to raising birds for meat and eggs.

A celebration of the chicken in its every aspect, Chickens is sure to delight the chicken fancier, the backyard chicken keeper, and everyone concerned about where our food comes from and how we can treat animals more compassionately.

This is the book that tells you just about everything you need to know to raise poultry on pasture, from the egg up through processing. Based on years of hands-on experiences -- both success and failu…

This is the book that tells you just about everything you need to know to raise poultry on pasture, from the egg up through processing. Based on years of hands-on experiences -- both success and failures -- the authors hold back nothing about the realities, advantages, disadvantages and rewards of small-scale poultry production systems for income and community food self-sufficiency. Offering hard to find information on raising turkeys, small-scale breeder flocks and incubation production, the book also includes a foreword by everybody's favorite contrary farmer, Gene Logsdon.

Live simply: save money, smile more. This theme runs through the Mother Earth NewsGuide to Living on Less special edition. In its 100 pages, you'll find expert advice, tips, instructions and more to h…

Live simply: save money, smile more. This theme runs through the Mother Earth NewsGuide to Living on Less special edition. In its 100 pages, you'll find expert advice, tips, instructions and more to help you live a more self-sufficient life. Its guidance covers everything from building better soil with free organic fertilizers to constructing tiny homes that are cozy, affordable and inspiring. The fourth edition of this handy guide will have you living on less and loving it!

Cows saving the planet? Why not? An idea that sounds preposterous begins to make sense when you take a soil's-eye view of our current ecological predicament.

In Cows Save the Planet, journalist Judith D. Schwartz looks at soil as a crucible for our many overlapping environmental, economic and social crises. Schwartz reveals that for many of these problems-climate change, desertification, biodiversity loss, droughts, floods, wildfires, rural poverty, malnutrition and obesity-our ability to turn these crises into opportunities depends on how we treat the soil. Where do cows fit in?

Cattle, like all grazing creatures, can, if appropriately managed, restore land and help build soil. Rebuilding soil is only one aspect of this important, paradigm-shifting book. Drawing on the work of thinkers and doers, renegade scientists and institutional whistleblowers from around the world, Schwartz challenges much of the conventional thinking about global warming and other problems. For example, land can suffer from undergrazing as well as overgrazing, because certain landscapes, such as grasslands, require the disturbance from livestock to thrive. Regarding climate, when we focus on carbon dioxide, we neglect the central role of water in soil-"green water"-in temperature regulation. And much of the carbon dioxide that burdens the atmosphere is not the result of fuel emissions, but from agriculture; returning carbon to the soil not only reduces carbon dioxide levels but also enhances soil fertility.

Cows Save the Planet is at once a primer on soil's pivotal role in our ecology and economy and an antidote to those awash in despairing environmental news. It is also an important call to action on behalf of the soil-and, by extension, those of us who benefit from it.

Having chickens has never been as easy and fun as with Murray McMurray Hatchery's Chickens in Five Minutes a Day.

This from-zero-to-go guide to raising a flock of chickens in your backyard gives you the easiest route to amazing fresh eggs, as well as tried-and-true shortcuts. Tending chickens becomes a snap with this handy book's help.

McMurray Hatchery has been sending out birds for home flocks for nearly 100 years and is one of the biggest names in the industry, shipping more than 2 million chickens and other fowl each year. With this experience comes knowledge: on how to raise fun and productive chickens the easy way, on simple feeding, the best coops, worry-free watering, hygiene, and pest control.

Raising chickens is one of the most rewarding home farm activities you can share with your family. The great flavor of the eggs, as reflected by the bright orange color of the yokes, is unrivalled by those found in supermarkets. Chickens also make great pets, fun to watch and keep around. Now it's easier than ever with the smart techniques and approaches prescribed by one of America's most well-known hatcheries.

If you are raising chickens, turkeys or other poultry for meat and lack easy access to a humane, local slaughterhouse, this guide shows you how to put together a slaughtering and processing unit that will accommodate any type of poultry and can be moved from farm to farm. These units can be funded, built and used by a community of small farmers, or you can develop one by yourself and use it as part of a business. The Mobile Poultry Slaughterhouse covers the mechanics of constructing the unit, government regulations, the permitting process, sanitation, safety, and much more.

With Sue Weaver's expert guidance, it's easy to raise sheep in your own backyard, whether for fleece and milk (and the wonderful cheese, yogurt and butter you can make from it) or as companionable pets. The Backyard Sheep covers absolutely everything beginners need to know to keep sheep safe, healthy and maximally productive.

Goats Produce Too! is a complete guide to making practically every variety of goat cheese. If other books have left you feeling like a failure, don't despair: Here's the book that will make you an exp…

Goats Produce Too! is a complete guide to making practically every variety of goat cheese. If other books have left you feeling like a failure, don't despair: Here's the book that will make you an expert! Author Mary Jane Toth provides clear guidance on pasteurizing and preserving milk by canning and freezing, as well as how to make butter, delectable desserts, cultured buttermilk and creamy yogurt. A whole section covers soapmaking and "udder" nonedibles, and goat meat gets its own chapter. The information in this book works equally well for cow's milk.

The cow is the most productive, efficient creature on earth. She gives you fresh milk, cream, butter and cheese, and promotes human health and happiness. She helps the homesteaders and small farmers w…

The cow is the most productive, efficient creature on earth. She gives you fresh milk, cream, butter and cheese, and promotes human health and happiness. She helps the homesteaders and small farmers who offer her bounty up to the community with a chance at turning a profit. She provides rich manure for your garden or land, and enriches the quality of your life as you benefit from the resources of the natural world.

Originally published in the early 1970s as The Cow Economy and reprinted many times since, Keeping a Family Cow is the book that launched thousands of holistic small-scale dairy farmers and families raising healthy cows in accordance with their true nature.

This Chelsea Green edition of a nearly 40-year-old classic has been revised and updated to incorporate new information on the raw milk debate, the conversation about A1 vs. A2 milk, totally grass-fed dairies, practical advice for everyday chores, updated procedures for cow emergencies, and more.

The book offers answers to frequently asked first-time questions, such as: "Should I get a cow?" and "How much space do I need?" In addition to answering these important questions, the book provides extensive information on:

The health benefits of untreated milk

How to milk a cow effectively and with ease

Choosing a dairy breed

Drying off your cow

Details on calving and breeding

The importance of hay quality and how to feed your cow properly

Fencing and pasture management

Housing, water systems and other supplies

Treating milk fever and other diseases and disorders

Making butter, yogurt and cheese

Keeping a Family Cow not only has stood the test of time, but it remains the go-to inspirational manual for raising a family milk cow-nearly 40 years after its first publication. Joann Grohman has a lifetime of practical experience that has been bound into this one volume and presented in the spirit of fun and learning. She started milking cows in 1975 and says she can no longer imagine life without one. Health and happiness can't be teased apart, Grohman says, and a family dairy cow supports both of these essential life qualities.

With this compact, portable reference in hand, crafters can quickly and easily look up any of 100 sheep breeds, the characteristics of their fleece, and the kinds of projects for which their fleece is…

With this compact, portable reference in hand, crafters can quickly and easily look up any of 100 sheep breeds, the characteristics of their fleece, and the kinds of projects for which their fleece is best suited. Each breed profile includes a photo of the animal and information about its origin and conservation status, as well as the weight, staple length, fiber diameter, and natural colors of its fleece. This is a great primer for beginners, and a handy guide for anyone who loves working with fleece!